GeForce 9400 GT 256MB vs GeForce GT 210

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GT 210, which makes use of a 40 nm design. nVidia has set the core speed at 589 MHz. The DDR3 memory is set to run at a speed of 800 MHz on this card. It features 16 SPUs along with 8 TAUs and 4 Rasterization Operator Units.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GT 210		31 Watts
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		50 Watts
	Difference: 19 Watts (61%)

Memory Bandwidth

Both cards have the exact same memory bandwidth, so in theory they should have the same performance. (explain)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GT 210 will be a little bit (approximately 7%) better at anisotropic filtering than the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB. (explain)

GeForce GT 210		4712 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		4400 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 312 (7%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GT 210 should be just a bit (about 7%) faster with regards to AA than the GeForce 9400 GT 256MB, and also capable of handling higher screen resolutions more effectively. (explain)

GeForce GT 210		2356 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 9400 GT 256MB		2200 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 156 (7%)

Please note that the above 'benchmarks' are all just theoretical - the results were calculated based on the card's specifications, and real-world performance may (and probably will) vary at least a bit.

Price Comparison

Specifications

Memory Bandwidth: Memory bandwidth is the max amount of data (measured in MB per second) that can be transferred over the external memory interface in one second. The number is worked out by multiplying the bus width by the speed of its memory. If it uses DDR memory, it should be multiplied by 2 once again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The higher the bandwidth is, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, High Dynamic Range and higher screen resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum number of texture map elements (texels) that are applied in one second. This figure is calculated by multiplying the total number of texture units by the core speed of the chip. The better the texel rate, the better the card will be at handling texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels processed per second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels that the graphics chip can possibly record to its local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated by multiplying the amount of Raster Operations Pipelines by the the card's clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - sometimes also referred to as Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel rate also depends on lots of other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the max fill rate.